RSA seamers set up comprehensive win

A fantastic bowling display from South Africa helped them thrash Pakistan by 67 runs in a crucial Group B encounter in Birmingham. Chasing a moderate 234/9 set by the Proteas, the woeful Pakistani batting collapsed and were cleaned up for 167 within 45 overs.

It was almost a do or die match for both the teams. South Africa had been beaten by India in their opening encounter, while Pakistan had gone down to the West Indies. Pakistan had thrashed the Proteas in the warm-up fixture at the Oval and would have been carrying the psychological advantage into this match. South Africa had already received a twin blow with their top two premier fast bowlers, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel having been ruled out due to injuries.

AB de Villiers won the toss and elected to bat. There were two changes for South Africa - Chris Morris made his debut replacing Morne Morkel while Aaron Phangiso replaced Rory Kleinveldt. Pakistan left out Asad Shafiq and replaced him with Umar Amin.

Openers give RSA steady start:

Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan maintained a tight leash on Hashim Amla and Colin Ingram. They bowled in the right channels and gave nothing away. Runs were at a premium. The South African openers were circumspect and respected the bowlers and the prevailing overcast conditions. Hashim Amla was given an early reprieve when he was dropped on seven at backward point by Umar Amin off the bowling of Irfan in the 5th over.

Amla carved Junaid Khan for a couple of boundaries in the 8th to break the shackles. South Africa had moved to 36/0 after the mandatory powerplay. Mohammad Irfan had bowled a splendid opening spell conceding just 13 runs off his 5 overs.

Amla builds solid platform:

Amla picked up a couple of boundaries off Wahab Riaz and rotated the strike well. Colin Ingram fell to Mohammad Hafeez for 20 in the 15th over ending an opening partnership of 53. Faf du Plessis was promoted to number three in the batting order. Amla continued to milk the bowling picking up the occasional boundary. He was quite impressive against Saeed Ajmal, manoeuvring the star off-spinner for ones and twos into the vast areas of the Edgbaston outfield. He registered his 20th fifty in the 22nd over of the innings. He made excellent use of the crease and executed the reverse sweep on more than one occasion.

At this stage, du Plessis was finding it a wee bit difficult to rotate the strike. That said, he drove Hafeez wide of mid-off in the 25th for his first boundary to bring up the half-century stand between him and Amla. Mohammad Irfan broke the aspiring stand when he sent du Plessis packing for 28 in the 29th over - the batsman trying to go for a pull but beaten by the pace of the delivery and holing out to Shoaib Malik at cover. The Proteas had moved to 134/2 after 30.

Next, the skipper AB de Villiers joined Amla and immediately made an impact, heaving Shoaib Malik over deep mid-wicket for a maximum early in his innings. South Africa opted for the batting powerplay in the 32nd over. Amla tried his luck once too often with the reverse sweep and was caught at short third man by a diving Hafeez off the bowling of Ajmal - Amla departed for 81 off 97 deliveries. The batting powerplay yielded a total of just 19 runs. RSA had moved to 163/3 after 36 overs.

Double Run Out as RSA 'SLIP':

AB looked in good touch and received able support from Duminy. The pair were content to pick up the ones and twos and preparing themselves for the final 10 overs to go for the final assault. They had added 41 for the 4th wicket before a bizarre run-out saw the end of a potentially threatening innings from de Villiers. Duminy whipped a full delivery from Junaid Khan to mid-on. AB set off but was ball-watching. He reached midway and slipped as he turned around, Misbah ran across to the bowler's end and dislodged the bails. The South African skipper departed for a run-a-ball 31.

Duminy met with a similar fate in the 43rd over, when he was run-out by, also by the Pakistani skipper, Misbah off a direct hit - the southpaw slipped and was beaten to the crease by the throw. At this stage, South Africa had 'slipped' to 195 for 5 after 43.

Superb death bowling restricted RSA:

David Miller was joined at the crease by Ryan McLaren. Malik and Ajmal kept the batsmen guessing mixing their line and lengths and varying their speeds. The 44th and the 45th overs conceded just four and three runs respectively. Malik trapped McLaren lbw for four in the 46th. Junaid Khan was hit for three boundaries in the 49th but got rid of the dangerous Miller off the last ball of his spell, courtesy a splendid catch by a diving Misbah. Riaz gave away just three runs from the final over of the innings.

The Proteas were restricted to a moderate 234/9 off their allotted 50 overs and could only muster 32 off their last five, while losing 4 wickets. Uncharacteristically, there were four run-outs in the innings. Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Hafeez were the most economical Pakistani bowlers.

Morris double blow rocked Pakistan:

Pakistan would have expected a solid start from their opening batsmen, but debutante Chris Morris had different ideas. He beat Imran Farhat with a beautiful delivery that was angling away from the southpaw and then, the very next ball, cleaned him up with a peach of a delivery that straightened and rattled Farhat's stumps - sending him packing for just 2 in the 2nd over of the innings. Lonwabo Tsotsobe maintained the pressure from the other end. Pakistan were choked and could only gather 13 in the first seven overs. Chris Morris gave South Africa another breakthrough, when he sent Mohammad Hafeez packing for 7 - the right-handed batsman miscuing a pull to square leg. Pakistan had limped to 18/2 after 10 overs. Tsotsobe provided excellent support to Morris and only conceded a miserly six runs off his five overs.

RSA maintain stranglehold:

Ryan Mclaren started his spell with a couple of maidens. Shoaib Malik, who had consumed a number of dot deliveries, was feeling the heat in the middle. Malik was ultimately put out of his misery by JP Duminy - the ball rolling back onto the stumps after Malik tried to defend and block the turn. The Pakistan number four departed for an uncomfortable 8 off 29 balls leaving his team reeling at 48/3 in the 18th over.

Misbah gives Pakistan outside chance:

Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq joined Nasir Jamshed and began the resurrection process. The pair were happy to place the ball in the gaps and pick up singles and twos regularly - boundaries were still at a premium. The pair had put on 38 for the 4th wicket before Tsotsobe took a sharp catch off his own bowling to dismiss Jamshed for 42 off 76 deliveries to reduce Pakistan to 86/4 in the 28th.

Jamshed was replaced at the crease by Umar Amin. From here on, surprisingly, there was no real urgency shown, even as the required run rate touched 8. Pakistan took the batting powerplay in the 35th over. AB got back his faster men - Morris and McLaren. Two, nine, four, and seven runs were scored in the first four overs of the powerplay. Then McLaren got rid of Umar Amin for 16 in the last over of the powerplay. The South African all-rounder handed Pakistan a double blow, when he saw the back of the dangerous Kamran Akmal for a duck off the last ball of the over. And Pakistan were reeling at 134/6 after 39.

Misbah was the only hope they had now. The rate required had climbed to nine runs per over. The general feeling was that the top order had left the lower order a bit much to do. Misbah realized he was fast running out of partners and decided to take it upon himself to get as close as possible to the target. He brought up his fifty by smashing a flat six over long-on off Robin Peterson off the first ball of the 40th over and Pakistan required 94 of the last 10.

South Africa prove too good for Pakistan:

Lonwabo Tsotsobe ended the hopes of a miraculous Pakistani chase when he foxed Misbah with a slower one and forced a mistimed shot straight to Amla at midwicket - Misbah departed for 55 off 75 deliveries. The end was now a mere formality. Wahab Riaz hit a couple of boundaries, but fell to Aaron Phangiso in his next over - the 43rd of the innings. Ryan McLaren polished off the tail to finish with four wickets. Pakistan had been cleaned up for 167 in 45 overs and were beaten comprehensively by 67 runs. Hashim Amla was adjudged the man of the match for his knock of 81. And Pakistan took one step closer to going home.

The International Cricket Council made it clear that it had nothing to do with the absence of former Indian captain Ravi Shastri from the panel of commentators for last month's ICC Champions Trophy in England.

Former skipper, Sunil Gavaskar and other ex-cricketers on Tuesday said in unison that one should refrain from drawing comparisons between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his predecessors, insisting instead to rejoice India's success in the ICC Champions Trophy.